Device for smoothing out and pressing together the free projecting end extending over the filling material of filled sacks

Abstract

A device for smoothing out and pressing together the free projecting end extending over the filling material of filled sacks, said sacks comprising side walls which are inwardly folded and there being two movable pairs of fingers engaging in the sack in the plane of the opened sack or a plane being parallel to said plane as well as a plane being lateral to said plane, whereby said fingers of each of said pair of fingers are arranged at a distance in the transverse direction of the sack opening and two rods or knives are arranged, said rods or knives being movable against each other and are extendable from the outer side of the sack between the fingers of each pair of fingers engaging in the sack, and, if necessary, on both sides of a closable loading funnel of a sack filling station. In order to secure a perfect smoothing out of possible folds in the projecting end of the sack, it is intended that the fingers of each pair of fingers engaging in the sack are arranged eccentrically on disks rotatable against each other.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A device for smoothing out and pressing together a free end of a sack having an opening extending in a plane and an axis extending perpendicularly to said plane, the sack containing a filling material and the free end comprising side walls folded inwardly towards the axis and projecting beyond the filling material, which device comprises (a) two pairs of fingers movable in planes extending in, or parallel to, the plane of the sack opening and perpendicularly to the plane of the sack opening, the fingers extending in the direction of the axis for engaging the sack opening, the fingers of each pair being spaced from each other in a direction extending transversely to the axis,   (b) two rods or knives movable towards each other from outside the sack and displaceable between the fingers of each pair engaging the sack opening, and   (c) two disks corresponding to each pair of fingers, said two disks rotatable in opposite directions about axes of rotation extending substantially parallel to the axis of the sack, the fingers of each pair being eccentrically arranged on a respective one of the rotatable disks.   
     
     
       2. The device of claim 1, further comprising a sack loading funnel for charging the filling material through the sack opening, the rods or knives being arranged at respective sides of the funnel. 
     
     
       3. The device of claim 1, wherein the fingers are constituted by thin plates or metal sheets of triangular shape. 
     
     
       4. The device of claim 1, wherein each finger is rotatable about an axis of rotation extending substantially parallel to the axes of rotation of the disks by an angle of at least 180° to an end position wherein the fingers of each pair extend parallel to each other at a minimum spacing. 
     
     
       5. The device of claim 4, wherein the angle is about 270°. 
     
     
       6. The device of claim 1, further comprising two meshing gears, a respective one of the rotatable disks being non-rotatably mounted on a respective one of the gears, and a drive connected to one of the gears. 
     
     
       7. The device of claim 6, wherein the drive comprises a cylinder-piston arrangement operated by a pressure medium.